I think that is where Ueshiba diverged from DR in a unique manner. Ueshiba was concentrating on ukemi purely as a way to be the avatar of the kami. That was his "correct" usage of ukemi. Taking all the incoming attacks/energy and changing it in his body so that he could use it in a manner that suited his spirituality.

So you'd define Ueshiba's ukemi as "taking all the incoming attacks/energy and changing it in his body through the use of aiki", right? And you just might be able to do so in the role of uke/aite and in the role of tori/nage?
And because of Uehsiba's spiritual goals we get to:

Quote:

You can't be a bridge between heaven and earth, be an avatar of the kami, if you're just dispatching uke at your feet quickly and decisively. In that manner, I think DR and Aikido are polar opposites. The former captures in and down decisively while the latter appropriately redirects and sends forth..

I can agree with that, but to me this doesn't imply what Shaun said, i.e. that "the very nature of the two arts are quite distinct and polar opposites from the start." Ueshiba changed the goal from martial to spiritual and his art evolved to express that. One might say that the end goal (spiritual instead of martial) defines the very nature of an art, but that's only what it looks like in theory, in practice it doesn't work that way.